VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

The Faculty of Linguistics and Cultures of English - Speaking Countries
Literature – Cross-cultural Communication Division
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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Program: Undergraduate
Course title: Intercultural Communication
Course credit value: 3
Course code: ENG2015
Course status: Core
Semester: 5 or 6
Class hour: Mon - Fri

1. INSTRUCTOR:
Ms. Phan Thị Vân Quyên, M.A
Tel : 0904798969
Email : assignment.coquyen@gmail.com

2. PREREQUISITES: Oral/Written communication 6

3. COREQUISITES: Oral/Written communication 6
4. SUBSEQUENT COURSES: N/A
5. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity are essential in both learning and working environment for Vietnamese
using English as a foreign language. Thus, effective intercultural communication skills are important graduate
attributes that students majoring in a foreign language need to possess. This course is designed to introduce basic
concepts and processes of cross-cultural and intercultural communication. The course will offer various
opportunities for students to acquire an informed understanding and hence an appreciation of the dynamics of
culture, the diversity of values and perceptions of peoples from different cultures and even from the same culture
that give meaning to people’s lives and drive their actions and behaviours. This understanding will help them to
reflect on personal values and practices, and to draw implications for their intercultural communication and
intercultural understanding and appreciation of the cultural similarities and differences.

6. COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- apply basic concepts and processes of cross-cultural and intercultural communication in exploring,
understanding and analysing cross cultural and intercultural phenomena.
- use their informed understanding and increased sensitivity of their own culture and those of others to reflect
on their own beliefs, actions and behaviours and to observe those of others to enhance effective intra-, inter-
and cross-cultural communication.
- identify adaptive challenges facing a person, or an organization in different cultural contexts and in their
own contexts of constant change.
- demonstrate their improved communication skills through ability to reflect, to suspend judgment, and to
respect/appreciate differences.

7. TEACHING MATERIALS
Core texts:
Baldwin, J. R., Coleman, R. R. M., González, A., and Shenoy-Packer, S. (2014). Intercultural
communication for everyday life. John Wiley & Sons.
Lustig, M. W., and Koester, J. (2010). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across
cultures (6th ed.): Pearson/A and B.
Nguyễn, Phương Mai (2017). Intercultural communication: An interdisciplinary approach: When
neurons, genes, and evolution joined the discourse. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Recommended texts:
Holliday, A., Hyde, M. & Kullman, J. (2004). Intercultural communication: An
advanced resource book. London: Routledge.
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2010). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). Boston:
McGraw Hill Higher Education.

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8. COURSE STRUCTURE AND LEARNING AND TEACHING METHODS
The course will include both lectures and in-class tutorials. To facilitate learning, the course employs discussion
of readings, students’ presentations, films and documentary, and case analysis. Students are centre of the
learning activities and are expected to proactively make their own choice of the extra materials for analysis, to
collaboratively work with their peers, to autonomously work on their own and to actively apply what they have
learnt.
There are 3 contact hours per week in the semester. The schedule includes, but is not limited to, the following
topics:

WEEKLY TIMETABLE:

WEEK TOPICS TO BE COVERED READINGS

Introduction and Overview of Course, Group Sign-up, Baldwin et al
Q & A regarding Course Syllabus and classroom policy. Students forming Chapters 1-2
1-2
the ground rules. Lustig & Koester
BACKGROUND CONCEPTS Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
CULTURAL PATTERNS AND COMMUNICATION: Lustig & Koester
TAXONOMIES Chapter 5
3-4
Nguyễn, Phương Mai
Chapters 5
CULTURAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL BIASES Lustig & Koester
Chapter 6
5-6 Nguyễn, Phương Mai,
Chapters 3
CULTURE, COMMUNICATION, AND MEDIA Baldwin et al
7
Chapter 10
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE Lustig & Koester
8 Chapter 12
Nguyễn, Phương Mai
Chapters 6
9 Self-study : prepare for group presentations
STUDENTS’ PRESENTATIONS
10
VERBAL INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Lustig & Koester
11 chapter 7
12 NON-VERBAL INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Lustig & Koester
chapter 8
13 - 14 STUDENTS’ PRESENTATIONS
Watch the film “Outsourced” + Analyse IC and acculturation process
15 Participation QUIZ
Submission of final essays

9. COURSE POLICY:
Early on, students will be assigned to a group of 3-4 that they will work with for the entire semester. Each group
may be assigned the same or different tasks. Further instruction will be given regarding these tasks
Students are expected to:
 Attend at least 80% of the total class hours if she/he wants to do the end-of-term assignment.
 Actively prepare for the class by reading and reflecting on what they have read for each class meeting
 Actively participate in the class activities
 Work cooperatively and collaboratively with peers. Each group member must contribute to the preparation
and presentation of the task assigned to their group.
 Gather information from different sources, and become better informed about intercultural communication
by reading, audio/videotaping, researching or through personal observation, interview, …
 Consult their peers and their teachers during the preparation of their oral presentations in order to have
presentations of good quality.
 Complete all the assignments by the due dates

CLASSROOM POLICY : NO USE OF MOBILE PHONE DURING THE LESSON

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 10. ASSESSMENT AND GRADING:
Form Weighting Task Purpose Due
date
Class 10% - Students participate in class -To assess students’ understanding of the required Weeks
participation discussions and/or presentation texts and their ability to critically reflect on what 1-15
topics assigned by their they have read.
instructor; - To assess students’ independent study skills
- Students write reflection or do
mini-tests/quiz
Mid-term 30% Students present in groups. - To assess students’ understanding of the topics Weeks
presentation Topics will be released and covered throughout the course and their ability to 11-15
consulted by instructors apply this understanding to solve practical
problems.
- To assess students’ ability to work in group.
End-of-term 60% Individual assignment will be To assess students’ understanding of the topics Week
assignment required for each students covered in the course and their ability to apply 15
(1200-1500 word essay) this understanding to solve practical problems

Other assessment information

Consult your instructor if you have requests for further information about the assessments

Assessment details
10.1 Group presentation project (30%, due Weeks 11-15 depending on registration with instructor from the
beginning of the semester)
The topics for Group presentations will be provided by the instructor

Requirements for Group Presentation

- Group work: 4 – 5 students in one group
- Time allowed for each group presentation: maximum 25 minutes
- Each group presentation must be a single project presented by 4 – 5 speakers (not 4 – 5 mini-presentations
put together). This requires a smooth transition between speakers.
- Use visual aids (e.g. videos, pictures, tape, …) or physical demonstration (role-play, mini drama, action …)
for illustration
- Prepare hand-outs, design follow-up activities/exercises for the audience
- Raise questions for discussion
- Be prepared to answer any questions from the audience
- Creativity in the way of presenting the project is encouraged
- You’ll be assessed both as a group and individually. Thus, work actively and coconstructively
- You’ll be assessed on the ability to convince the audience of your analysis, which is based on your critical
understanding and conceptualisation of the materials learnt from the course and your informed observation.
- Be tentative!!! You are using knowledge of cross-cultural communication to sharpen your observation, but
not to generalise because you are only analysing only a small fraction of a culture/some cultures.
Submission: After delivering your presentation in classroom, submit a soft copy of the Ready-for-performance
kit to your instructor, including the followings:
* Slide/video presentation + supporting materials (if any)
* Designed tasks and games with how-to instructions
* Accessories/Facilities (if any)

10.2 Individual final essay assignment (60%, 1200-1500 words excluding references, due Week 15)
The topics for the final assignment will be provided by the instructor

Requirements for essay writing

- State the topic you chose in the title of the essay
- Choose the materials carefully, and analyze the materials in the light of concepts in intercultural
communication that you think particularly relevant (e.g ethnocentrism, acculturation, values, cross-cultural
pragmatics, verbal communication...). Discuss in relation to the course material and your reading. Your
essay should contain:
1) brief literature review of the concept(s) chosen with proper referencing

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 2) description of the segment(s)/material(s) that relate to the concept(s)
3) analysis and discussion how this segment informs the concept(s) and helps us understand the concept(s).
- Be tentative!!! You are using knowledge of cross-cultural communication to sharpen your observation, but
not to generalise because you are only analysing only a small fraction of a culture/some cultures.
- This is an individual essay, so plagiarism will be severely punished. However, you are allowed to discuss
ideas with your peers before writing.
- Peer feedback is allowed. If you use peer feedback, hand in copies of all versions with peer feedback and
your changes, and your final version.
- Format: ESSAY, font Times New Roman, size 14, 1.5 spacing, printed on two sides, stapled, no cover or
binding required. (Save the environment). Your names, class, title of the essay all in half of the first page.
- Sources of reference must be clearly stated following APA format
- Hand in the hard copy in classroom and then submit its soft copy to your instructor
The title of the file should be : FULL NAME_CLASS_IC essay
e.g. NGUYỄN VĂN NAM_16E8_IC essay
- Submit your final essay according to the agreed schedule. Late papers will be accepted, but will be marked
one grade lower than the grade deserved for every day of delay.

To instructors: To ensure academic integrity, all soft copy essays (both group presentation and final essays) will be collected
and put together in a file and kept for years. This will be shared among instructors, which will help us track students’ original
works and detect possible plagiarism.

Marking criteria for group presentation project

9 - 10 8 7 5-6 0-4
Content 60% -Excellent -Very good -Good -Satisfactory -Very limited
understanding of understanding of understanding of understanding of understanding of
the concepts the concepts the concepts the concepts the concepts
chosen. chosen. chosen. chosen. chosen.
-Excellent and -Very good and -Good and -Satisfactory links -Irrelevant links of
perceptive links of perceptive links of relevant links of of the concepts to the concepts to the
the concepts to the the concepts to the the concepts to the the materials materials chosen.
materials chosen. materials chosen. materials chosen. chosen. -Irrelevant and
-Excellent, -Very good, -Good and -Satisfactory and unsatisfactory
perceptive and perceptive and relevant relevant conclusion drawn
highly relevant relevant conclusion drawn conclusion drawn from the analysis
conclusion drawn conclusion drawn from the analysis from the analysis of the concepts
from the analysis from the analysis of the concepts of the concepts and materials
of the concepts of the concepts and materials and materials
and materials and materials
Delivery 30% - Excellent turn- - Very good turn- - Good turn- - Satisfactory turn- - Restricted effort
taking, highly taking, proper taking, proper taking, satisfactory to show
proper division of division of tasks, division of tasks, division of tasks, collaboration
tasks, excellent very good and good and smooth some evidence of during
and smooth smooth collaboration collaboration presentation
collaboration collaboration during shown during -Limited language
during during presentation presentation competence that
presentation presentation -Good, accurate -Some affects
-Excellent, fluent, -Very good, fluent, language use with inaccuracies and comprehension
highly accurate accurate language some hesitation or hesitation that -Improper
language use with use with proper some improper require effort to direction to the
proper pace, clear, pace, clear, pace, clear, understand audience
confident and confident and confident and -Proper direction -Restricted or
respectful tone respectful tone respectful tone to the audience ineffective use of
-Excellent -Very good -Good direction to -Effort to use of visual aids and
direction to the direction to the the audience visual aids and other facilities to
audience audience -Good use of other facilities to facilitate
-Excellent use of -Very good use of visual aids and facilitate understanding
visual aids and visual aids and other facilities to understanding
other facilities to other facilities to facilitate shown but may not
facilitate facilitate understanding to the effect
understanding understanding -Effort to be -Absence of effort
-Creative, -Creative, creative/or to be
humorous, original humorous, original humorous but not creative/original
always to the
expected effects

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Answering Confidently handle Confidently handle Handle questions Satisfactorily Handle some of
audience’s questions very questions effectively, handle some of the the questions
questions 10% effectively and effectively, demonstrating questions, inadequately,
diplomatically, demonstrating good demonstrating demonstrating
demonstrating very good understanding of satisfactory unsatisfactory
excellent understanding of the content understanding of understanding of
understanding of the content discussed the content the content
the content discussed discussed discussed
discussed

Marking criteria for analysis essay

9 - 10 8 7 5-6 0-4
Concepts 20% Excellent and Very good Good description Satisfactory Limited
thorough description of well of chosen concepts description of description of
description of well chosen concepts concepts concepts
chosen concepts
Materials and Rich and Very good Good examples of Satisfactory Limited examples
relevance 20% perceptive links to examples of concepts examples of of concepts
examples of concepts presented concepts
concepts presented in the materials
in the materials chosen.
chosen
Analysis and Rich and There is evidence Analysis is sound, Some critical Only restricted
discussion 40% perceptive links of improved showing some interpretation and attempts at
between readings, critical awareness ability to assemble links with other description or
with the content of and ability to link and compare ideas readings and analysis
the course and concepts in a and to evaluate components of the
more widely. constructive and their relevance. course
References to perceptive way.
other material
and/or perceptive
development of
the implications of
the ideas.
Academic writing Excellently Generally well Acceptable overall Just acceptable Limited attention
20% presented with presented with but some possible overall, but with paid to the detail
attention to detail attention to detail problems in some quite serious of presentation
of the conventions of the conventions certain sections of problems in with many
of the title page, of the title page, the presentation. certain sections of conventions not
bibliography, page bibliography, page Possible small the presentation. followed. More
numbers & overall numbers & overall problems with Possible problems persistent spelling
layout. layout, with appropriate length with appropriate and punctuation
Appropriate length possible minor length. problems. More
with excellent slips. Appropriate serious problems
language accuracy length with some with length.
and fluency language mistakes
demonstrated that do not affect
throughout. communication of
ideas.

11. UNIVERSITY PLAGIARISM POLICY

• Cheating is an offence course to University disciplinary procedures.
• Plagiarism in oral, written or visual presentations is the presentation of the work, idea or creation of another
person, without appropriate referencing, as though it is one’s own.
• Failure to acknowledge the use of another person’s work or ideas may result in charges of academic
misconduct which carry a range of penalties including cancellation of results and exclusion from your
program
• Works detected plagiarism will be marked down to 0.